Thursday, January 27, 2011

Wax On, Wax Off

After some google searching I discovered that they "off wax" over time. Certain conditions cause the boots to sweat the wax protectant, hence the whiteness. So, I found a few different articles. Some said to rinse them with warm soapy water. Tried that. No luck. Another said to rub them down with Armor All (tire protectant). But then another source said to avoid harsh chemicals.

Thinking I could go organic, I first rubbed my boots down with Olive Oil. Admittedly, I felt a little ridiculous, but they did look nice and shiny for about an hour. Then the oil dried and they were back to white and weird. I decided it was time for the real stuff.

I asked Mr. Fix-It (repeatedly) if we had any Armor All and he presented me with a spray can of some sort. I laid my boots out on our counter with a towel and began spraying away. Then he confessed he'd given me tire foam. Allgedly this is not the same as regular Armor All. (What?) Then he took the can away and said I was spraying all wrong. (Fine, honey, I'll just take pictures while you do it.)

So he sprayed, then I scrubbed away.

Look! Shiny! (Well, shinier than before...)

And alas, a photo of my Hunter's all assembled and shiny. I felt the need to show you a photo of them complete with my pink wellie socks inside since I find the maroon boots to be otherwise man-ish. I only say that because I originally wanted different Hunter's all together, but I couldn't buy them because of my giant feet. Darn size 11. These are technically men's boots. Tell me the pink socks girl them up.

So what did we learn today, kids? Don't clean your Hunter boots with Olive Oil - it's just a dumb waste of good product. Cut to the chase and bring out the chemicals. I'll follow up if my boots suddenly fall apart.

Oh, funny side note on the chemicals: the stank set off our CO2 detector. Glad we don't have any babies yet so I'm not poisioning their little lungs with the need to shine up boots in the house with tire spray.

Hey, I'm a size 11 too!! And I just ordered a pair of Hunters half off from a Gilt sale, so I'm excited to hear you (and Kelsey) love them! Not so excited about that weird white stuff, though (and a little apprehensive b/c the pair I bought are bright red)?! I think it's very funny you used tire spray on them, but it totally helped them out :D